Island Peak Climbing with Everest Base Camp

Upon your arrival, our representative from Himalayan Sherpa Adventure awaits you at the airport. We will then proceed towards your hotel and brief you about Nepal and your trek. In the evening, we take you to a traditional Nepali restaurant for dinner where we will give you more information about the tour, your city sightseeing and also answer any questions you may have. Overnight in Hotel Mulberry. (B, D)

Our guide will check your equipment in the morning to see if everything is fine. We will then start our sightseeing tour, heading to at least 3 major attractions in Kathmandu. Our sightseeing starts in the morning and should finish around 3 pm. Some major sites are Pashupatinath, Boudhanath, Swayambhunath and Kathmandu Durbar square. You will have the rest of the day free and also a chance to do any last minute shopping before your trek. Overnight in Hotel Mulberry. (B)

We pick you from your hotel early morning and head towards Kathmandu domestic airport. You will have a short, 30 min flight to Lukla from Kathmandu. The rest of the crew, including the assistant guide and porter awaits you at the Lukla airport. Upon reaching Lukla, we have introductions with the rest of the team and have tea/ coffee while watching the amazing landings and take-offs at the Lukla airport. Once everything is set up, we start our trek towards Phakding. It will be an easy journey today and you will soon notice that the Everest region is totally different from Kathmandu or anything that you have seen. We get to experience the Sherpa culture and villages of the Everest region along the way and our experienced guide will be there to share information about it. We will make a short stop for lunch midway. After reaching Phakding, our team will help you with your rooms and during dinner, our guide will brief you about your tomorrow’s program. Overnight in Sherpa Shangrila Resort. (B, D)

After breakfast, we pack our belongings and start our trek towards Namche. Today will be a considerably longer hike but each step will bring us closer to the Himalayas. Our trail goes through pine, fir and juniper forests, as well as cross the Dudh Koshi river multiple times via a hanging suspension bridge which you will soon see all over the Everest region. We will also come across a view point where you can see Mt. Everest if the weather is clear! This will be the first place that you can see Mt Everest from without going up higher. We will make a stop for lunch in the middle of day. The last suspension bridge that we cross is called the Hillary Bridge, which is also the highest bridge and from here we take the uphill that leads us to Namche. Overnight in Hotel Sherpaland. (B, D)

Today, we set up a program to visit Hotel Everest View up in Syangboche from where we can see Mt Everest and other high peaks but most importantly we set up this activity to help us with acclimatization. We will also have our lunch there in the hotel. This program should take us around 4 hours to complete. After returning back to Namche, you are free to explore the quaint and buzzy village of Namche. Namche Bazaar offers coffee shops, salon, restaurants, shopping etc. At dinner, you guide will give you more information about your next day. Overnight in Hotel Sherpaland. (B, D)

We trek towards Tengboche Monastery, which is the oldest monastery of Everest region and holds a significant value among the locals. Our trek will be accompanied by beautiful views of Ama Dablam on the right until we descend down to Phunkitenga river where we will stop for lunch. After a break, we climb up to Tengboche where we will be staying overnight. The monastery is located in an ideal place surrounded 360 degrees by the Himalayas. You can view Mt Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, Ama Dablam and Thamersku. Overnight in Tengboche Lodge. (B, D)

We will visit Tengboche monastery in the morning and if we get lucky then we might even get to interact with the local monk from the monastery. The morning hour also offers us a great opportunity to take picturesque pictures of the monastery with the Himalayas in the back drop. After this, we head down and cross the village of Debuche and cross several small creeks with Mt Ama Dablam smiling upon us all along the way to Pheriche. We will also hike over the old Sherpa village of Pangboche before we reach Pheriche. As we get higher, more mountains will be visible to us with every step. Overnight in Pheriche Lodge. (B, D)

After breakfast we head towards Thukla from where we climb a steep uphill moraine formed by the Khumbu glacier. Here you will find many prayer flags set up as a memorial to Scott Fischer and all the climbers that lost their lives while climbing Everest. Our guide will give you a thorough explanation of the site. After observing the area, we continue our walk towards Lobuche. Overnight in Oxygen Lodge. (B, D)

Today we head to the last village before Everest Base Camp - Gorakshep. The walk from Lobuche to Gorakshep will not take long but can feel challenging due to the thin air. Once we reach our lodge in Gorakshep, we will drop our bags in our rooms and take a break before heading towards Everest Base Camp. Our trail will consists of rocky dunes, moraine and streams before reaching Everest Base Camp. From here you can see many camping tents especially during springtime as Everest summiteers all start their expedition from here. We head back to Gorakshep where we will stay overnight before we will head to Kala Patthar early morning the next day. Overnight in Yeti Lodge. (B, D)

We start our hike today pre dawn as we want to get to the summit of Kala Patthar right before the sunrise. We will have some tea and carry a packed breakfast that we can enjoy at the summit. It will be a difficult hike but a worthy one as we will have one of the best views of Mount Everest. At sunrise the view is truly extraordinary, along with all the high Himalayas in the backdrop. You will be surrounded by the Himalayas while at the summit, overwhelming you with pure joy. Later we descend down to Gorakshep and head back towards Lobuche for overnight. Overnight in Oxygen Lodge. (B, D)

After breakfast, we head back to Dingboche via Thukla. This time we will not take the route to Pheriche but rather the upper route that leads us to Dingboche. This is a serene walk with the giant mountains surrounding us. The trail is relatively flat and easy. We reach Dingboche in the afternoon and settle in our lodge. Overnight in Snow Lion Lodge. (B, D)

Todays hike is relatively easy and short. The walk is a steady uphill to Chukung and we should reach there before lunch time. After lunch, we can explore the Chukung village and get ready for our Island Peak expedition. Our mountain guide will guide and inspect all our equipment and any equipment that we don’t have can be rented here in Chukung. After having all our equipment ready, our mountain guide will train us on how to use it. We will do practice trials with our equipment and review all the necessary information about Island Peak today. Overnight in Chukung Lodge. (B, D)

We hike to Island Peak base camp today where our camp crew awaits us. Our entire campsite will be preset by our camping crew. On our way, we will come across Imja lake and Lhotse glacier moraines. The route to Amphu Lapcha pass lies to the southeast of us. After arriving to base camp, we can leave our bags in our tents and head to the dining tent for some tea/ coffee. Later, we will train again with our climbing equipments and learn climbing techniques that will be useful to us. By this time, you should be familiar and comfortable with the climbing gear such as an ice axe, climbing boots and crampons, harness, ascender etc. Later, we’ll have dinner in our dining tent and our guide will explain to us more about Island Peak and other important information. Overnight in our tents. (B, L, D)

Today after breakfast we resume our training and prepare ourselves both mentally and physically as we will start the expedition tonight soon after midnight. We will get a final training on our climbing equipment and techniques. All our trainings will include using ropes to go up and down. We have our dinner normally around 4pm and get our sleep by 5 pm as we will need to leave for the summit by 1 am. Overnight in tent. (B, L, D)

Our guide will wake you up soon after midnight and we will have our breakfast and leave for the summit by 1 am. The reason we start early is to avoid the strong winds up in the mountains later in the day. It is a big factor and can be detrimental in any expedition. Another good reason to start early is to witness the beautiful sunrise over the Himalayas, which makes our entire expedition feel priceless and makes all our effort worth it. Our path begins in the dark by climbing up several hundred meters through rocky paths and ice trails but you will be provided support by our guide the whole time and also some fixed ropes along the way. There comes a point where we will put our crampons on and then will have to cross several crevasses. We will be crossing the crevasse using a ladder. Island Peak varies quite a bit, so we will be climbing ladders up and down, crossing crevasses, using the ice axe in necessary places and in the end, climbing up a steep ice wall using a fixed rope and ice axe to summit Island Peak. As we near the summit, the sight of dawn over the Himalayas is exceptionally beautiful. The summit of Island Peak has a very limited space so once we reach the summit, we cannot stay there for a long time as we will need to give way for other climbers but when we are there, we get to witness excellent views of the great Himalayas and can take some great pictures. This is a thrilling journey and one that will remain in our hearts forever. Later, we descend down to base camp and celebrate our successful summit. Overnight in Base Camp. Another option is to descend back to Chukung the same day. (B, L, D)

Today we head back to Dingboche making a pit stop in Chucking for lunch and also return any items that were rented. We will also bid farewell to our camping and climbing team. Overnight in Dingboche. Overnight in Snow Lion lodge. (B, D)

We follow back the trails of Pangboche village and return to Tengboche. In case we did not get time to see the monastery or meet monks of the monastery, then we can do so today. Overnight in Tengboche lodge. (B, D)

We will be using the familiar trails from here as we have already crossed this path. Ama Dablam, Kongde and other peaks will accompany us throughout our way to Namche. We will stop for lunch in small village of Kyangjuma. Kyangjuma offers an amazing view of the Himalayan range while we have lunch. Here on we head back to Namche and spend the night there. Overnight in Hotel Sherpaland. (B, D)

Today our walk will consist of mostly downhills and an easy trek to Phakding. After climbing Island Peak, these trails will feel much easier. We stop for lunch in Monjo where the serene sounds of the Dudh Koshi river are very peaceful and relaxing. After lunch, we continue towards Phakding. Overnight in Sherpa Shangrila Resort. (B, D)

It is the last day of our trek and also an easy walk to Lukla. After breakfast, we slowly start walking towards Lukla reminiscing about all the memories we’ve made along our journey. Our guide will have already arranged and reconfirmed your flight schedule for tomorrow. After reaching Lukla, we will have a chance to rest and then meet with the entire trekking crew for dinner. Our team, including porters, assistant guide and guide will join you for dinner and bid farewell. By now, you will have also notice that all our teams are not only professionals in what they do, but they are also great entertainers! We will celebrate our last night by dancing to some Nepali tunes. Overnight in Hikers Inn Lodge. (B, D)

We have a morning flight to catch and our team will help you till the airport. Himalayan Sherpa Adventure representative will be waiting for you in Kathmandu’s domestic airport. We will bring you back to your hotel and you will have the rest of the day free. Overnight in Hotel Mulberry. (B)

We bid final farewell and drop you to the airport for your departure. (B)